What is PrEP?
PrEP – pre-exposure prophylaxis (means to prevent an illness or disease)
PrEP is a new HIV prevention option for HIV negative people! PrEP is a once a day pill that, when taken regularly, can reduce risk of HIV transmission.
How does it work?
PrEP is a once a day pill, called Truvada. Truvada is actually a medication used to treat HIV, but research has proven that if it is taken BEFORE some has HIV it can be very effective in preventing infection! PrEP is prescribed to be taken once a day, every day for as long as you’re on PrEP.
How effective is it?
PrEP is new, but there has been A LOT of research done on its effectiveness. The research says that when someone is given a PrEP prescription and takes it every day as directed it can reduce the likelihood of HIV infection (if exposed) by up to 92%!! But skipping a day here and there brings prevention effectiveness down. In other words, it doesn’t work if you don’t take it.
Is PrEP right for me?
PrEP might not be for everyone. Below are a few questions to get you started thinking about it.
If you can answer yes to any of the questions below, then PrEP may be one HIV prevention strategy to consider.
- Do you use condoms sometimes or not at all?
- Do you often get STIs in your vagina or butt?
- Have you taken post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) more than once in the past year?
- Are you in a serodiscordant relationship, where your sexual partner is HIV positive and you are HIV negative?
- Are you in an open relationship or having anal and/or vaginal sex with multiple partners?
- Are you having sex with someone whose HIV status you don’t know?
This list was provided by Project Inform.
There is more info on this site on how to get started with PrEP, how to talk with your doctor about PrEP or how find a clinic that prescribes PrEP.